KENNEBUNK — The Kennebunk field hockey team dominated the battle for loose balls on Tuesday as they picked up a hard-fought 3-2 win over Massabesic at Fletcher Field.
“Kennebunk played a great game. They cut to the ball, they beat us to the ball so many times in that first half … they just really cut hard to the ball,” said Massabesic head coach Michele Martin-Moore.
The Rams (2-1) got on the board just five minutes into the first half when Christine Jarowicz scored off an offensive corner to create a score of 1-0.
Jarowicz’s was the only goal for the first half of the game.
During the second half, the Mustangs (2-2) came out strong. Five minutes into the half, Grace Tutt scored to tie the game.
The Rams would respond in a big way as Kaylee Gregoire scored two goals to give Kenenebunk a 3-1 advantage. Gregoire scored once at the 17:35 mark with a tip-in and again with 16:10 left on a three-on-one break.
“I think it was a very competitive game. We both had some pretty decent offensive opportunities and I think both of us made some mistakes defensively that created those opportunities for each other,” said Kennebunk head coach Kayla Billings. “It’s always very competitive when we play Massabesic, and this was a game that we were really looking forward to and that we wanted to come out with a victory on, so we did well.”
With less then 15 minutes left in the game, Massabesic narrowed the gap. Micaela Jacobs scored at the 14:20 mark to cut the margin to 3-2.
“We know that we have to finish and that’s kind of our goal this year is working on that finishing piece. We settled a little bit and then that resulted in them having a little more offense towards the end of the (second) half,” said Billings. “(That) is something that we know we have to work on. Making sure that when we get that lead that we know what we need to do to hold onto it, but we were able to do that today even though they pushed back and fought pretty hard.”
During the second half, the Mustangs dominated game play. Massabesic had an 7-1 edge in penalty corners in the final 30 minutes but they were unable to execute.
“When we click, we really click. And when we don’t click it’s pretty clear,” said Martin-Moore.
Massabesic goalie Ashley Day made six saves. Kennebunk goalie Haley Moody made eight saves in the win.
The Rams will travel to Biddeford on Thursday night, while the Mustangs are off until Tuesday when they will host the Tigers.
— Sports Writer Sienna Barstow can be reached at sbarstow@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.